Secrets Well Kept
by splishsplashsplooshy
Summary: When Evan's parents got a divorce, he ended up going with his dad. He had to leave everyone behind - even his best friend. Everything changed. Now, 11 years later, he's going to college. And everything will change once more.
1. Chapter 1

Evan slowly stepped out of the car, looking around him. He could feel his heart clench and his palms start sweating. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart. He was faintly aware of his mom and dad stepping out of the car as well. His mom - it always felt wrong to call her by that, even if he'd lived with her as his mom for the past 11 years - smiled at him, and he managed a weak smile back.

"Are you ready?" she asked excitedly, a smile on her face. Behind her, his siblings - Jason and Alexis - stepped out of the car, already looking bored.

"Y-yeah." That was all he had been able to manage. He feared that if he continued, he'd just turn into a stuttering mess. He was aware of the way his dad looked at him, and pointedly refused to make eye contact. After a moment, he spoke up.

"Well, let's go find your dorm then."

After a long moment in which they searched for someone who actually knew anything on campus, they were able to find where Evan would be for the next year. He gulped and stepped over to it. They had gone to get all his stuff, wanting to get him all settled in. He was almost positive that they just wanted to get rid of him already.

Evan had wanted to stay with his mom. His ireal/i mom. Heidi. Not with his dad and, later, the woman he married. And he almost would have, too. But something had happened - as a 7-year old, he never really understood what, and was now too scared to ask - and he ended up going to Colorado with his dad. After a year, he got married to Megan. A year after that, they had their first kid, Jason. And later they had Alexis. He'd never really felt comfortable with any of them. He generally tried to avoid them whenever he could.

Sooner than Evan would have liked, they reached his dorm. Taking a deep breath, he held one of the boxes he had brought and started the trek up the stairs to his room. He was on the 3rd floor, so it wasn't too bad. Still, he wondered why they couldn't have just installed elevators. It would have made his, and he's sure many other's, lives easier.

By the time they reached his room, Evan was out of breath. They had managed to get everything in one trip - he didn't have a lot - so that was nice. He caught his breath in front of the door for a bit and listened to see if anyone else was in there. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be the first one there or not. After a moment, he gave up trying to tell - either no one was there or they were really quiet - and opened the door.

The first thing he saw was the large boy, roughly his age, with long dark brown hair that was slightly curly, and had on a black hoodie and tight black jeans. He was staring back at him, and he noticed that he had blue and brown eyes.

Looks like he wasn't the first one here.


	2. Chapter 2

Connor stared at the road in front of him, the highway lines stark against the black road. He never thought it would come to this. Connor Murphy, local stoner and "school shooter freak," was going to college. A pretty good one, too. During his last year, near the second semester, he started actually giving a shit and managed to bring and keep his grades up. He'd done it mostly to spite his parents and everyone else, if anything.

He could still remember the comment Larry had said that started it all.

 _"There's no way he can get into college. Look at him! He's always high nowadays, and his grades are all low. It'd be a miracle if any college accepted him. If he'd even care enough to apply to any."_

Hearing that had made his blood boil, so he managed to get in some applications as soon as he could and started paying attention in class. And lo and behold, he'd actually been accepted. And so here he was, driving to this college.

His parents and Zoe were in their own car, while he got to drive his own car there. This way he'd have his car. And he wouldn't have to deal with his family on the way there. Really, it was a win-win. He didn't think any of them would be able to handle them all being in the same car.

The drive was rather long, many hours. He wanted to go to a college as far away from his family as possible. They had been driving for a while, and had just entered the town the college was in. It wouldn't be much longer now, something he was both grateful and incredibly nervous for. At this college, he'd be dorming with someone. He'll have a roommate. He had no idea what they'll be like. They'll probably take one look at him and hate him. He's not sure he can handle that.

In his thoughts, he almost missed the turn. Thankfully, he noticed right as he started to pass it. With quick thinking, he managed to turn just in time. Who cares if some people honked at him? He was here. Finally.

He quickly found somewhere to park and got out, followed by his family who came in a little after him.

"Well, we're here!" Cynthia - no, his _mom_ \- grinned, coming up to him. She was followed by Larry and Zoe, both of which who looked like they didn't want to be here. He ignored them, and managed a weak smile directed toward his mom. He was nervous, so incredibly nervous, but also...excited? He couldn't name all of the emotions running through him. So he ignored them.

They focused on finding his dorm, and when they finally did, Connor was quick to go to his room. He cursed the lack of elevators, and after a moment finally reached his room on the 3rd floor. He opened the door and looked in, noting that it was fortunately empty. He was the first one here. He could get settled in before having to face his roommate.

He settled himself with putting things away. There was a bookshelf, and he set the box he brought down. It was filled with books. Just books. His parents had brought everything else. While placing his books on the bookshelf, they walked in. He ignored them as they looked at the place. He'd examined it briefly before choosing a side and starting to organize his stuff.

Without saying a word, he took the box Larry was carrying and set it down next to the drawers near his bed. Opening the box, he began to put the clothes away. He noticed Zoe helping put some other things away - he wasn't even sure of half the stuff he packed. He'd just thrown shit in he thought he might need. He watched briefly as she put the dark purple and black comforter on the bed, and went back to his own task.

After probably an hour, everything was put in its place. Now he just had to wait. His mom had said she wanted to see his roommate, who was supposed to come today, so he was stuck with them until he got here. Until then, he was sat on his bed, avoiding the gaze of his family. He didn't want to look at them. He just wanted them gone already. He wanted to be alone. To reflect on...how he'd managed to get here, in a college, hours away from his house.

The door knob jiggling caught his attention and he turned and stared at the door. A moment later, it opened, revealing a sort of short (everyone was to him) and slightly chubby boy, with sandy blond hair. He was followed by what looked to be parents, though his mother looked nothing like him, and two siblings. As soon as the boy saw him, he paused, eyes wide. All Connor could think was, " _Oh shit. He's cute."_

His thoughts were interrupted by the boy rambling. "O-oh! You're, uh, you're here now. Um. Hi? You're, uh. Y-you must be….I-I'm-"

While the boy continued stuttering, Connor watched his parents. His dad was clearly disapproving of his stuttering, though he was silent. Connor frowned.

"Hey. I'm Connor. And you must be Evan." The boy - Evan - nodded.

Connor attempted a smile in return. He was going to try and be nice, try and actually make a friend. And the best place to start would be with Evan. It didn't seem like the boy would hate him. He seemed nervous, definitely, but that was probably because he was here at college. He was nervous, too.

He watched as Evan went to the other side of the room and started setting his things up. While he did that, he watched his parents and Evan's. His own mom seemed excited, looking back and forth between Evan and him. Larry didn't seem to have any emotion on his face, though that wasn't really much of a surprise. Zoe seemed...unsure. He wasn't sure how to describe her emotion. So he moved on to Evan's family.

His dad seemed mostly proud, probably because his son was here in college. He couldn't help but feel something else that seemed to be radiating off of him though. Perhaps the disappointment from earlier? Evan wasn't stuttering now, but that was clearly an ongoing problem. And his dad didn't seem to like it. His mom seemed relatively happy. And his siblings, both definitely younger than him, well…

"Can we go yet?" one of them complained, his arms crossed. Evan's mom tsked.

"Now now, Evan isn't finished setting up yet. Here, if you help, it'll get done faster!" She smiled, nudging both. Connor barely caught the frown Evan gave before it disappeared.

"O-oh...I'm, uh, almost done. It won't be long now; I can do it myself." With that, Evan noticeably increased the speed with which he set his stuff up.

After about 5 or so minutes (not that he was counting), Evan seemed to be done. He sat on his bed, now made with a light blue comforter, and glanced toward his family.

"I'm done n-now."

"Alright! Well, we better get going. It's been a long road trip here, and now we need to head back," Cynthia said, clapping her hands together once. "We'll see you later, Connor." She grinned at him. Connor didn't bother grinning back, he just grunted.

"Right. Seeya."

She paused, as if she wanted him to say something more, or to at least move, but Connor stayed on his bed. After some time, she smiled again. "Well! We'll get going. Bye Connor!" Connor simply waved, and the three left. Zoe and Larry seemed relieved to be gone, and were quick to leave. His mom lingered for a moment before following them.

Connor glanced around at Evan's family and at him briefly before pulling his laptop out. He didn't want to pay attention to Evan saying goodbye.

"Well, we better get going as well. Evan."

"Y-yeah?"

"Do good in college. Make us proud." With that, Evan's dad turned to leave. Connor couldn't help but notice how Evan slightly flinched at his words, before turning to his mom and siblings. His mom smiled at him.

"Goodbye Evan!" Evan simply waved back at her. His siblings each took hold of his mom's shirt and began to walk away, officially leaving the two alone.

The two sat there for a while. Evan looked like he was picking at his shirt, while Connor was messing around on his tumblr. After a while, he sighed and looked over at Evan.

"Wanna get some pizza?"

Evan looked over and slowly nodded.


End file.
